Naruto season 1

Naruto
Season 1
The first Japanese DVD volume cover of the first season
No. of episodes35
Release
Original networkTV Tokyo
Original releaseOctober 3, 2002 (2002-10-03) –
May 28, 2003 (2003-05-28)
Season chronology
Next →
Season 2
List of episodes

The first season of the Naruto anime television series is directed by Hayato Date, and produced by Pierrot and TV Tokyo.[1] Based on Masashi Kishimoto's manga series, the season follows Naruto Uzumaki living in the Hidden Leaf Village, determined to become the next Hokage and gain the respect of the villagers. The first season ran from October 3, 2002, to May 28, 2003, on TV Tokyo and its affiliates.[2]

The English dub ran from September 10, 2005, to May 27, 2006, on Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block in the United States and YTV's Bionix programming block in Canada.[3][4][5] The season's episodes ran on Adult Swim's relaunched Toonami block in a completely uncut format from December 1, 2012 to November 30, 2013. After the 52nd episode, it was removed from the schedule rotation to make room for its successor series, Naruto: Shippuden.[6] The series returned to Adult Swim on May 31, 2024 as part of its Toonami Rewind block.

In Japan, the season released in both VHS and DVD format.[7] A total of twelve volumes were released by Sony Pictures Entertainment between January 1 and December 3, 2003.[8][9] Episodes from this season were later released on nine DVD compilations by Viz Media between March 28, 2006 and February 20, 2007,[10][11] with two compilations of thirteen and twelve episodes released for the first season.[12][13] The first of these compilations was nominated at the American Anime Awards for best package design.[14] In 2009, Viz released another two DVD boxes containing episodes 1–25 and 26–52, respectively.[15][16]

Four pieces of theme music are used for the episodes; two opening themes and two closing themes in the Japanese episodes and a single theme for the openings and endings in the English-dubbed version. The two Japanese opening themes are "Rocks" (R★O★C★K★S) by Hound Dog (used for episodes 1 to 25) and "Haruka Kanata" (遥か彼方, lit. Far Away) by Asian Kung-Fu Generation, used for episodes 26 to 35).[17][18] The two closing themes are "Wind" by Akeboshi (used for episodes 1 to 25) and "Harmonia" by Rythem (used for episodes 26 to 35).[19][20] The opening and ending theme for the English airing is "Rise" by Jeremy Sweet and Ian Nickus, with an instrumental version played as the closing theme.[21]

  1. ^ NARUTO-ナルト-. Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  2. ^ "Naruto story" (in Japanese). TV Tokyo. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
  3. ^ "IGN: Naruto: Season 1". IGN. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved September 22, 2007.
  4. ^ "Viz to Stream Naruto on Naruto.com Within 1 Week of Japanese Airing (Updated)". Anime News Network. November 17, 2008. Archived from the original on June 6, 2009. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
  5. ^ "Canada's YTV to Premiere Death Note Anime in September". Anime News Network. July 19, 2007. Archived from the original on November 2, 2009. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
  6. ^ "Naruto to run uncut on Adult Swim's Toonami Block". Anime News Network. November 11, 2012. Archived from the original on November 14, 2016.
  7. ^ "NARUTO -ナルト-" (in Japanese). TV Tokyo. Archived from the original on July 19, 2009. Retrieved November 5, 2011.
  8. ^ "Naruto Vol. 1". CDJapan. Archived from the original on February 23, 2005. Retrieved November 5, 2011.
  9. ^ "Naruto Uncut, Vol. 12". CDJapan. Archived from the original on May 28, 2005. Retrieved November 5, 2011.
  10. ^ "Naruto, Vol. 1 (DVD)". Viz Media. Archived from the original on May 29, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  11. ^ "Naruto, Vol. 9 (DVD)". Viz Media. Archived from the original on May 29, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  12. ^ "Naruto Uncut, Vol. 1 (DVD Box Set)". Amazon. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2007.
  13. ^ "Naruto Uncut, Vol. 2 (DVD Box Set)". Viz Media. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  14. ^ George, Richard (February 13, 2007). "NYCC 07: Viz Anime Dominates Award Noms". IGN. Archived from the original on August 18, 2007. Retrieved September 7, 2007.
  15. ^ "Naruto Uncut Season 1, Vol. 1 (DVD Box Set)". Viz Media. Archived from the original on May 5, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  16. ^ "Naruto Uncut Season 1, Vol. 2 (DVD Box Set". Viz Media. Archived from the original on May 12, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  17. ^ "ROCKS HOUND DOG CD Maxi". CDJapan. Archived from the original on October 24, 2014. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  18. ^ "Houkai Amplifier ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION CD Album". CDJapan. Archived from the original on November 9, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  19. ^ "Akeboshi". ローチケHMV (in Japanese). Archived from the original on May 31, 2017. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  20. ^ "Harmonia RYTHEM CD Maxi". CDJapan. Archived from the original on November 24, 2014. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  21. ^ Camp, Brian; Davis, Julie (2007). Anime classics zettai! : 100 must-see Japanese animation masterpieces. Stone Bridge Press. pp. 238. ISBN 978-1933330228. OCLC 811408328.